Welcome to the April issue of my Blog... www.TheUrbanShaman.blogstop.com

The theme for this month is:
Love Your Mother... EARTH!

This is the month we celebrate "Earth Day"... Which should be celebrated and remembered daily... I know, I know, we are seemingly being bombarded with Green this, Green that... But in reality, we should have been paying attention to our habits of consumerism and waste decades ago.

I liken what is happening to "CAUSE and EFFECT" and now we are seeing the effects of our causes... Weird weather, energy shortages, drought, wildfires, melting ice caps, animals dying of starvation and pollution exposure, and the list goes on and on...

This month, and from this point on, let's be conscious of our consumption and make mindful choices. We may not ever be able to reverse the processes we've started, but we can slow them down and hopefully reach a healthy balance for future survival.

My Question to you is:
"What can you do now to be a conscious visitor on this great planet?"

I have provided a few easy changes you can make for a better environment and better health in this month's blog... A good sourse for Green living tips and information contact: Union of Concerned Scientist at: UCSUSA.org. They have many eNewsletters for the asking and provide the latest in discoveries that effect our health and the planet and offer avenues for change.

Remember! We only get one Mother... Earth, treat her with love and she'll take care of you and yours. Treat her bad and she'll make life miserable...

Please pass this information to your friends and family...
or email me to join the mailing list if you are not in my database @ TheUrbanShaman@aol.com ...

Life is not just a journey... make it an adventure!
ENJOY!
Much love to you all...

Peace N' Blessings,
Gail Oliver

B.Y.O. Bag
Filed under: Reuse, Paper, Plastics

This is common practice in virtually every other country but our own. The U.S. uses 100 billion plastic bags annually, consuming about 12 million barrels of oil. As less than 1% of plastic bags are ever recycled, using a sturdy reusable bag will eliminate hundreds to thousands of plastic bags over its lifetime. That spells huge savings to your state, city or town. Take California for example: it costs taxpayers $20.5 million to collect and landfill plastic bag waste each year. And that's not counting external costs, such as pollution, risk and threat to marine life, etc. San Francisco and soon Los Angeles (will) have bans on the use of plastic shopping bags...

If you don't have a reusable bag around the house, most conscious food stores have them for sale... These canvas bags are reusable and washable.
For more information, visit:
earthwisebags.com
reusablebags.com

Junk Mail Redux
Filed under: Water saving measures, Paper, Junk mail

I get Junk mail, we all get junk mail, but you can put a stop to it... According to 41pounds.org, since last summer several hundred Green Guide readers paid $41 in return for a junk mail reduction kit and a promise to help you drop your junk mail by as much as 95% in 4 months. The savings from those few hundred participating readers came to 205 trees and 72,000 gallons of water. It's a tip of the iceberg for sure, but has me excited.

41pounds.org is not the only organization which for a fee promises to help you reduce your junk mail. Greendimes.com which charges $3 per month and automates the process of removing your name from junk mail lists. Because the smallest actions, such as donating to charity or purchasing items from a catalog or web site, are enough to put your name on yet another list, Greendimes is constantly checking lists for your name, and their list of junk mailers is constantly updated.

You don't need to work with a service to reduce your junk mail. You can also register online for the national Do Not Mail list at www.the-dma.org/consumers/offmailinglist.html though you should be warned that it is only free by postal mail. The online opt-out method costs $5, but I'd recommend the online method, since while you are there, you can put your email addresses on the Do Not E-mail list, and stop the flow of unsolicited commercial e-mails that pile up in your email box.

And if unwanted phone solicitations are the bane of your dinner hour, you can register online at www.donotcall.gov, to be removed from their list.

I'm determined to simplify my life, and in an age of information overload, I have found reducing the flow of junk mail wherever it flows, is a small step that yields great rewards every day.

Websites:
www.the-dma.org/consumers/offmailinglist.html
Greendimes.com
41pounds.org

Clean the Air in Your Home
Filed under: Vacuum Cleaners, Indoor air pollutants, Air pollutants

I relish the coming of each season, including winter, except for the fact that we have to batten down the hatches to keep the fresh, but cold outdoor air out. The air indoors can fill up with unhealthful pollutants unless you are careful. Some of us are especially sensitive to common allergens, including pet dander and dust mites. New high tech vacuums with a High Efficiency Particular Air (HEPA) filters trap 99.97 percent of particles down to 0.3 microns in size, and blocks them from being spewed back out into the air, as happens with most vacuums. HEPA filters also help trap flame retardants, phthalates and toxic pesticides found in household dust.

Not everyone needs a vacuum with a HEPA filter. A medium efficiency machine may suffice if you or someone in your family is not an allergy sufferer or have asthma.

Check out last months blog for nontoxic cleaning products... OR, you can try one of the many different household cleaning products that reduce "Indoor air pollutants" which the EPA has deemed more toxic than outdoor pollution. Most can be purchased at major supermarkets and Target.
Some options are:
Method Cleaners-www.methodhome.com
Seventh Generation Cleaners-www.seventhgeneration.com
Mrs. Meyers Cleaners-www.mrsmeyers.com
Planet-Safeway/Vons
Trader Joe’s-Cleansers and personal products

Save Energy, Eat Organic, Whole foods,
and support your local Farmer’s Markets
Filed under: Packaging, Fertilizers, Factory farming, Food miles, Organic agriculture

You can drive less, turn off lights, and buy energy efficient windows and appliances, but did you know that buying organic food will also help reduce our nation's energy consumption? According to a decades-long study, organic farms produced more food per unit of energy than conventional farms.

I prefer home cooked meals using fresh basic ingredients rather than over processed and packaged foods. The many health reasons to start from scratch are well known: processed foods contain a number of preservatives, colorants and additives that are both unnecessary and unhealthy, first among them are salt and sugar, of which Americans consume too much and which can lead to obesity and high blood pressure. But few of us think much about the excess energy spent on things like packaging and additional transport and manufacturing processes. For instance, a one-pound box of processed macaroni and cheese requires nearly seven times as many kilo calories of energy to produce than it provides as food. I don't make overly elaborate meals, particularly on busy weeknights. Simple menus, fresh ingredients - this works, is fast and always tasty.

Cold Water Washing
Filed under: Energy efficiency, Energy saving measures

Not sure whether it would be a good idea or not, but thinking I might save a little energy, earlier this year I thought I'd try cold water to wash and rinse my clothes. I use a washing machine of course and pre-soaked anything that had been stained. I found my clothes got as clean as they had in hot or warm water, but much to my pleasure, they also looked and felt more like new. This little change spelled savings in more ways than I'd expected.

I prefer to line dry some clothes for the same reason – less wear and tear on the fabric from the hot dryer - and am glad to know there is an major energy benefit to my doing that as well. Less Gas/Electricity comsumption!

Save a Tree, or Two or Three
Conservation, Waste reduction, Paper, Recycled paper, deforestation

If a tree falls in the forest and there's no one chained to it, should you still use it to blow your nose? The average American uses 50 pounds of tissue paper per year, and that equals a lot of felled trees if every pound comes from virgin pulp. That statistic has been a bee in Greenpeace's bonnet for months, and last week, the activist group blockaded Kimberly-Clark's regional office in Italy, demanding the company stop clearcutting Canada's ancient, old-growth Boreal forest to make its disposable tissue products.

Now, you don't have to make a special trip to Italy to demand action, but we should all be paying a little more attention to what's flushing through our pipes. While paper recycling facilities really don't want your used tissues or toilet paper, you can still seek out recycled-content paper products. Look for the highest content of "post-consumer waste," or PCW, since "pre-consumer waste" doesn't do much to stem the flow of paper entering landfills.

Marcal products are entirely recycled, and although they have a relatively low PCW content, that brand is the one most commonly found in conventional grocery and drug stores. Natural food stores will provide you with a greater selection of products with a higher PCW content, offering brands like Seventh Generation, Earth First, and--at Whole Foods only--365. If you're really dedicated to the cause, online retailer Green Earth Office Supply (www.greenearthofficesupply.com) sells a Finnish brand of toilet paper called Heron's, which is 100 percent PCW and even comes without the pesky, albeit recyclable, cardboard roll.

Information reprinted from The Green Guide © The Green Guide, 2006